Story #20: A Sealed Vinyl Locker

This locker was small, but packed. I saw a collection of Star Trek books, old boxes and vintage luggage. Overall it looked like it’s been there for a long time, and was dusty enough to be promising. What I found inside, as I dug in, was something special: boxes and boxes of rare vinyl records, most of them from the 70s and 80s and many of them brand new and sealed in original plastic. Because the records were sealed, they had skyrocketed in value - some selling for $600-700 each among collectors.

This discovery made me pause. We as humans tend to idolize objects. We wrap them in plastic, put them in display boxes, where they remain like mummies in a sarcophagus. We watch from the outside, yet never truly enjoy them. We idolize them for their monetary value, and not for their true value.

Records, old toys, board games - all kept “safe” but untouched - I have seen it time and again in my lockers. We watch and observe these objects from the outside, as if delaying our gratification. The vinyl locker reminded me that the real worth of something isn’t in its perfection or price tag, but in the joy it brings when it is finally opened and shared.